DIGITAL bytes

VANDALIA, OH—The Association of Esko-Graphics Users recently held its annual meeting in St. Louis. A series of Adobe product and technology presentations met with considerable interest among attendees, as did the synergies afforded by the Esko-Graphics DeskPack solution released within the past year. The agenda covered a range of prepress topics and applications, including automated workflow, color theory, Internet proofing tools and alternative color models. (www.aeg.esko-graphics.com)

PITTSBURGH—The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) has published a report of the findings from its original research study comparing the quality of print jobs from digital color and DI presses. The print technologies used in the research included two direct-imaging presses and seven digital color presses.

GATF researchers report print jobs produced by some digital presses fared better in rub resistance tests than did offset jobs. They also found that digital color printing jobs were equal to or greater than offset jobs in run consistency. Additionally, greater overprint trapping was provided by digital color press technology, which translates into a larger color gamut being achieved, the researchers claim.

Heavily illustrated with charts, the “Digital Color Printing and Direct Imaging Benchmarking Study” is a 56-page soft cover booklet available for $199, not including shipping. (www.gain.net/store)

BARCELONA, SPAIN—During its recent meeting, the International Color Consortium (ICC) reports it took steps to broaden participation in the development of its color management strategies and gain international recognition for the most recent version of the specification. The consortium voted to invite a larger number of knowledgeable technology users and industry consultants to participate in future meetings. It also submitted Version 4.1 of the spec for approval as an international standard through the International Organization for Standardization’s Technical Committee 130, Graphic Technology. (www.color.org)

CHANHASSEN, MN—The Instant Web Companies (IWCO), a direct mail services company, has added an Océ digital printing system as part of an expansion of its personalization platform. The system, built on the Océ VarioStream 7650cx Twin engine, will provide new format capabilities and greater throughput to enable IWCO to produce 100 million personalized direct mail packages monthly in one location. (www.iwco.com/www.oceusa.com)